The captain of the University of Nevada women's volleyball team told Blaze News in an exclusive interview that she is disappointed by the school's decision not to support the team's decision to forfeit a game against a team that includes a transgender player.
“Unfortunately, our university has decided not to support us and has decided to play the game as scheduled,” Nevada Wolfpack captain Xia Lili Said.
“Student-athletes should not be pressured to play games where they don’t feel safe, and rightly so.”
As Blaze News previously reported, San Jose State's women's volleyball team has a 6-foot-1 male athlete named Blair Fleming (real name Brayden).
Fleming's participation on the SJSU team is the unofficial reason for four disqualifications by teams: Boise State, Southern Utah, Utah State and Wyoming.
Even Fleming's own teammates have spoken out about the unfair advantage male players have over female players.
Nevada is scheduled to withdraw from its next game against SJSU after Wolfpack players issued a statement refusing to participate in a game that threatened their safety.
However, school officials override We respect the wishes of the players and declare that the game against SJSU will be played as scheduled.
The University of Nevada claimed the players made decisions and statements “independently” and “without consulting the university or the athletic department.”
However, Lili said that although she and her teammates tried to communicate their feelings to school administrators through the appropriate channels, the university still decided to press ahead with the scheduled game.
“Although the majority of us decided this was incorrect, [that] We need to protect women's sports, but we are going to forfeit,” the team captain explained.
She added, “To know that the university didn't acknowledge the fact that we were the team we were playing against.” [Fleming] It was really frustrating and the way they were doing it was not OK. ”
Lilley said administrators later scheduled a meeting with the team to apologize to the players and ensure that the school would not penalize them if they choose to sit out the Oct. 26 game against SJSU. He said he told the players.
When asked about the contradiction in schools not punishing players while publicly refusing to support their disqualification decisions, Lilly told Blaze News that while schools are following state and NCAA rules regarding gender, He said he felt he was finding ways to distance himself from the players. Diversity.
But Lilly added that she has received a lot of support from politicians, especially Tulsi Gabbard and Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.). Both men recently attended a women's volleyball game in Nevada.
“Thank you Sam Brown, Tulsi Gabbard, and Mark Wayne Mullin.” [sic] Thank you for showing your support tonight against Utah State! ” wrote Lilly ×.
“While our university did not support this decision, the governor… [Joe] Mr. Lombardo also made a really encouraging statement,” LiiLiii said.
Lombardo is statement X said in part about the ordeal: “Student-athletes should not be pressured to play games they don't feel safe in.”
The governor added, “I sincerely respect the players' decision.''
“We have people behind us supporting us, and that's really important,” Lilly said.
The Nevada captain added that he hopes to soon “see light at the end of the tunnel” regarding the controversy.
As for whether Nevada's volleyball players will protest, participate or sit out during the SJSU game, “we'll have to wait and see,” Rieri said.
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